In 1907, Akseli Gallen-Kallela and his family moved into the old main building of the Alberga Manor in Leppävaara (demolished in the 1950s). The Alberga Manor estate was owned by the family of Akseli's wife Mary (nee Slöör). At this time, Gallen-Kallela had already made the first sketches of his future studio Tarvaspää together with architect Eliel Saarinen.

The final design phase and construction of artist's studio began in 1911, after the Gallen-Kallela family returned from their trip to British East Africa. The land for the studio building was carved out of manor estate's summer residence in Laajalahti peninsula. The family moved to the  Villa Linudd, which was renovated to be suitable for winter accommodation. They lived there during the construction years of the studio. Studio building was build near the historical wooden villa.

The castle-like studio building was completed in 1913. It was dedicated space for artist to work and exhibit his art and cultural historical collection. On the second floor of the tower were exhibits of artefacts family brought with them from the British East Africa. Family lived in the Nairobi area, now the capital of Kenya, during years 1909–10.

In 1915, the Gallen-Kallelas were forced to leave Tarvaspää and flee the turbulent atmosphere of the First World War.They moved to Ruovesi, to their first studio home known as Kalela. During the war years 1915-1918, Tarvaspää was the target of looting and sometimes the scene of local battles.

In 1923 Akseli Gallen-Kallela travelled to the United States. Mary and Kirsti and Mary's mother Aina Slöör moved to Tarvaspää. Marys mother had previously lived in the cold and draughty Alberga Manor. Mary and Kirsti travelled to the USA in 1924, and son Jorma and Mary's relatives and lived in Tarvaspää temporarily while taking care of the elderly mother.

1926 Akseli, Mary and Kirsti returned to Finland. They settled again in Tarvaspää. The artist's studio was converted into a habitable dwelling. Among other things, electricity and water pipes were laid, a modern bathroom was built and the heating system was renewed. A kitchen was built to replace the so called etching room.

In 1931 Akseli died of pneumonia in Stockholm. Mary and Kirsti stayed in Tarvaspää after his dead. In the 1930s, son Jorma and Pirkko, his wife, also lived in Tarvaspää.

With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Mary was again forced to move from Tarvaspää. The Army Intelligence Department occasionally used the atelier as a base. After the end of the war in 1945, atelier remained empty for more than 10 years. The children of the region remember studio castle as a haunted house that only the most brave ones had nerve to break in.

In 1958, the Akseli Gallen-Kallela Museum Foundation sr acquired ownership of the artist's studio and villa Linudd. It was Akseli Gallen-Kallela's wish to establish a museum in Tarvaspää from the very beginning of the planning of the castle. The studio buildin was renovated for museum use and the building was returned to its original state. Only the atelier fireplace, the American style bathroom and few extra walls remind of the renovations made by the family in the 1920s. The Gallen-Kallela Museum was opened to the public in 1961.